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Hitting the ground running.. and Dinky Almost excluded again…

I have hit the ground running on the appeal for statutory assessment, I didn’t realise that when the head said that I need to apply for it meant I would have to do EVERYTHING for them!

Actually, that is pretty dense of me! Of course the work shy SENCO wants me to do her job for her! Nothing has changed really. Happy to make a reward chart when I told them what is likely to happen to it after a couple of weeks (if they are lucky!).

So… this weekend the only information I have from school consists of:

The contact book,

The IEPs

The formal exclusion

and the risk assessment.

realistically I would be stunned if the panel had not received the IEPs and risk assessment. So I tried to make sense of the contact book, and turn it from communication to evidence. Now… I am very much a fact based person. I can read things and analyse data, which makes this a simple (ish) task. What makes it difficult is a lack of data regarding her avoidance to work, only 3 incidents of going under the table were recorded, and very few times ‘would not participate/refused to work’ were recorded compared with my knowledge of her and the conversation I had with the Senco after the last TAC. So after plenty of revisions, and counting documents, and then realising that there was more detailed incidents in the pages not just the timetable… I fianally came up with the following charts that depict Dinky’s last 7 weeks in school (with the exception of half term between weeks 5 and 6 where we had half term).

Now, this one shows how bad the last week was for Dinky at school. Also this comes to no surprise to me. Nor should it come to any surprise to the school… I mentioned in the July and September TACs that things would get a whole lot worse once transition started to be tapered off from the play based learning of early years. I was met with scepticism, this has become the expected with the school. I do not know how many times I have to prove them wrong before they listen to me, or at least do not treat me like an over anxious parent.

Now, I did have a little issue with the maths for this one, for anyone who has seen the previous percentages on face book, they were wrong lol. It was late and I was angry, so I fluffed the maths.

I have carefully gone over this and this is accurate.

Still to have almost half of sessions be negative is a lot. When I broke it down week to week it varied so much lesson to lesson throughout the day it was hard to make any sense of it. Which *could* be due to the fact that some days she was less anxious than others, and the way the lessons were constructed may have suited her better in some sessions and not in others.

Either way, with the exception of the afternoons, (which I think *could* be because it is afternoon 1 followed by afternoon 2 with no break), there is no particular day or session which is worse. Every week.

I had to put the laptop down at this point as at 11am I got a call from the school saying Dinky had been formally excluded again. So on the way down there I was thinking… I bet it is like last time, I will get there and she would have been excluded for inappropriate juggling… or something of that nature.

I get there and I am met by the deputy. She takes me into a room with Dinky and Muppet. Dinky looks fit to burst into tears, but is holding it in.. lip tremble, puppy dog eyes, the whole shabang! She asks for a hug. How on earth could I resist? I gave her a hug and looked at her and she had two perfectly tear drop shaped tears in the corners of her eyes. I melted there and then.

As it turns out Dinky had been climbing the fence and was pulled off by one of the teachers and she tried to bite her. She was in meltdown. So they decided to call me. It was at this point muppet said that she had calmed down very quickly since she arrived. She asked the deputy to take Dinky on a walk and Dinky said no. So I asked her to tell me how many flags they had, or find her favourite. So she went on a flag hunt around the school with the deputy.

Muppet said that she was amazed by how quickly Dinky had calmed down and that if I was happy, she was willing to keep dinky in school, but in nurture group. I said that obviously if that is the only viable option of keeping Dinky in school learning then it was ok by me for today. She asked if I had heard about statutory assessment and I said I had, and that I had phoned the school to let her know as she had asked me to do on Friday. I also said that the info they requested was already available and that it should go to a provision planning meeting before appeal, and I was hoping I could get them to reconsider at this point. She said it is almost a shame that Dinky is so bright, if she wasn’t as bright this would be much more straight forward.

She called dinky and the deputy back in and as the head said “right Dinky,” Dinky wanted to show me a cut on her foot, so she took her shoe off no cut. I said “oh, no cut? this is a very good way of distracting us from having this conversation Dinky!” It was more for the Muppet’s sake than mine. She caught on and said “ah, that is a very interesting point” and looked knowingly at her deputy, like there had been an incident where this had been employed and now it made sense. I didn’t even bother saying… “Have you not read the PDA booklet I gave you in April, or the folder I had made in June, or the leaflet I gave you in October? Avoidance by stealth distraction is high up on the list of things PDA kids do!” deflated much!

Once I had got Dinky’s shoes and socks back on the head told her that she was going to go into nurture and Dinky said “I’d rather go home”. Which was rather amusing. Before Muppet could say anything I said “I know you would rather darling, but you need to be in school doing learning, but you like nurture”. She agreed if I would take her there.

So the head took us next door to nurture and it was snack time so Dinky went and sat down to get a snack!

And Breathe!

So yes, I left and Dinky is still in school, no doubt having fun with the garage in nurture with the little brat whose mum still pushes her in a buggy at 6 years old. (I know I shouldn’t judge, but this is the mum that buys her kid treats in the afternoons even after she has been excluded for hitting teachers, and then wonders why she doesn’t learn… she is in nurture due to having a positive result for attachment and EBD on her boxall profile).

So home to finish my blog post and do some more prep… I also have the integrated services lady and the family link worker coming out at mid day tomorrow.

Ok… Where was I?

Day by day

It is all over the shop.

Tried a different chart..

Shows it is a very mixed bag… no day is better..

sessions go… literacy, break, maths, break, lunch, PM 1 then PM 2

week by week…

Again no pattern.

So it does seem random. This is going to be my evidence asking them to suggest where they place the up to 15 hours support on school action plus, in a school that doesn’t really understand her, or made an effort to, unless it is their own assumptions and not PDA.

Either way.. I will fight until I have nothing left. Dinky is fighting everyday to get her needs met. I need to help.

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Thoughts on the crossroads of law, politics and society - for when 140 characters just won't do. This blog contains general information and commentary on legal matters. It is not intended to provide legal advice. This blog discusses the law in England, unless otherwise stated.

Hello, my name is Julia and I’m an adult living with a diagnosis of Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). I also have a diagnosis of ADHD and Psychotic Episodes. PDA is a lifelong Pervasive Developmental Disorder and was first described by the late Prof. Elizabeth Newson in 1980. PDA is an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Despite PDA being older than me (just) there are still massive gaps in its recognition, peoples’ understanding and its diagnosis by professionals. I’m one of the lucky ones and this is my story…….